So on to Genesis 4. The Cain and Abel story is short, so I'll put the whole thing here.
1. Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, and she said, "I have acquired a man with the Lord."
2. And she continued to bear his brother Abel, and Abel was a shepherd of flocks, and Cain was a tiller of the soil.
3. Now it came to pass at the end of days, that Cain brought of the fruit of the soil an offering to the Lord.
4. And Abel he too brought of the firstborn of his flocks and of their fattest, and the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering.
5. But to Cain and to his offering He did not turn, and it annoyed Cain exceedingly, and his countenance fell.
6. And the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen?
7. Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it."
8. And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.
9. And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10. And He said, "What have you done? Hark! Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the earth.
11. And now, you are cursed even more than the ground, which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand.
12. When you till the soil, it will not continue to give its strength to you; you shall be a wanderer and an exile in the land."
13. And Cain said to the Lord, "Is my iniquity too great to bear?
14. Behold You have driven me today off the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from before You, and I will be a wanderer and an exile in the land, and it will be that whoever finds me will kill me."
15. And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be wrought upon him sevenfold," and the Lord placed a mark on Cain that no one who find him slay him.
16. And Cain went forth from before the Lord, and he dwelt in the land of the wanderers, to the east of Eden.
Lots of weirdness here.
First, as Grant noted, we've moved from disobedience to murder. Lots more evil to come (the Flood, Babel, etc.).
Once again we've got a new God. Not Elohim (God(s)) or YHVH Elohim (Lord God), but just plain YHVH.
We have a conflict between two competing ways of life -- farming and herding. God seems to come out firmly on the side of herding, which isn't surprising, since (as I understand it), that was what the ancient Hebrews did.
Why accept the animals but not the veggies? Again, it might be a sign that herding is favored over farming. Or, according to some, it might be because Cain merely offered "the fruit of the soil" while Abel offered his best stuff -- "the firstborn of his flocks and of their fattest."
How did God accept Abel's sacrifice? According to Rashi, with a big-ass blast of fire that consumed it. Cool.
There's a Hebrew play on words in 4:1 -- "Cain" (קין) is similar to "acquired" (קניתי).
In Hebrew tradition, Cain was conceived and possibly born before Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.
Note that the translation above translates "the Land of Nod" as "the land of wanderers." This often is considered to be no particular place, and just means that Cain wandered aimlessly.
Here's some clever commentary from the Genesis Rabbah:
To protect Cain from being killed, a dog was given him, who accompanied him and protected him against all comers.
When Cain went abroad, after killing Abel, he met his father Adam, who expressed his surprise at Cain's life being spared. The son explained that he owed his life to the act of repentance, and to his pleading that his sin was greater than he could bear. Adam thus received a hint of his error in not having fallen back upon repentance instead of putting the blame on Eve. He there and then composed a hymn, now known as the Ninety-second Psalm, which, in the course of time, became lost or forgotten. Moses, however, found it and used it, and it became known as the prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Cain was a twin, for with him was born a girl; and Abel was one of three, for with him came two girls.
It is an error to think that Cain was stronger than Abel, for the contrary was the case, and in the quarrel that arose Cain would have fared worse had he not appealed to Abel for compassion and then attacked him unawares and killed him. |
